Transfer apparatus

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for transferring elongated elements from a receiving station onto an adjacent carrier. The elements are first arranged in a layer or tier on a plurality of laterally extending support members spaced along the length of the receiving station at a level slightly above that of the carrier. The loaded support members are next extended over the carrier, after which stop members are raised to operative positions protruding between the support members at the receiving station. Thereafter, the support members are retracted, causing the elements to be stripped therefrom onto the carrier.

nited States Patent 1 11111 et a1.

[54] TRANSFER APPARATUS [75] Inventors: William .1. Hill, Holden;ll-Iarold 1E. Woodrow; Kenneth L. Klusmier, both of Worcester, all ofMass.

[73] Assignee: Morgan Construction Company,

Worcester, Mass.

[22] Filed: July 21, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 164,601

[52] 11.8. C1. ..214/6 DlK, 214/65 {51] Int. Cl ..B65g 57/24 [58] Fieldof Search ..214/6.5, 6 DK, 6 H,

214/6 P, 6 G, 6 A; 271/84, 86, 88

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,583,472 6/1971 Yamamoto eta] ..214/6 DK 3,594,977 7/1971 Grasvoll ....214/6 DK 3,169,646 2/1965Mason ....214/6 DK 3,567,046 3/1971 Reist ..214/6 DK 3,488,917 1/1970Oswald et a1 ..214/6 DK X [451 May 9, 1973 5/1969 Nelson ..214/6 Dl(12/1936 Fay, Jr. ..214/6 DK FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,256,15512/1967 Germany ..214/6 DlC Primary Examiner-Robert J. SparAttorney-Chittick, Pfund, Birch, Samuels & Gauthier [5 7] ABSTRACT 7Claims, 16 Drawing Figures PATENIEDHAYZQIHB sum 3 [IF 6 PATENTED HAY 2 9I973 SHEET 8 BF 6 TRANSFER APPARATUS DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates generally to the art of material handling and inparticular to a novel and improved apparatus for laterally transferringa layer or tier of elongated elements from a receiving station onto alaterally adjacent carrier. The invention is especially useful in thehandling of product lengths such as for example the rolled sectionsproduced by a rolling mill, although it will be appreciated from thefollowing detailed description that other uses are also contemplated.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide atransfer apparatus which maintains a tier of elongated elements inhorizontal and lateral alignment during the transfer thereof from areceiving station to a position overlying a laterally adjacent carrier,and which thereafter drops the elements one by one onto the carrier toform another aligned tier thereon. A further object of the presentinvention is to control the attitude of the elements as they areindividually dropped onto the carrier, so as to prevent the elementsfrom twisting or tipping. A more specific object of the presentinvention is to arrange a plurality of elements in a tier on laterallyextending support members located at a receiving station, to thenadvance the loaded support members to a delivery position overlying acarrier, and to then individually strip elements off of the supportmembers in a manner which allows the middle section of each element tosag downwardly into contact with the underlying carrier or a tierpreviously deposited thereon, before stripping the ends of the elementoff of the support members. This provides a locating and controlfunction which prevents the elements from turning or twisting as theyare stripped off of the support members onto the carrier, therebyinsuring that the elements are arranged on the carrier in the samemanner as they were previously arranged on the support members. Afurther object of the present invention is to provide means forobviating the possibility of the support members being damaged in theevent that they are forced upwardly inadvertently by contact with eitherthe carrier or a tier of elements previously deposited thereon.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent as the description proceeds with the aid of theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a transfer apparatus embodying theconcepts of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2A is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along lines 2A2Aof FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing the means for advancing andretracting the element support members; FIG. 4 is a plan view of theequipment shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along lines 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along lines 6--6of FIG. 4; and,

FIGS. 7A to 7I are schematic illustrations depicting the operation ofthe apparatus.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2 wherein are best shown generalfeatures of an installation embodying the concepts of the presentinvention, there is shown a transfer apparatus generally indicated at 10located between a roller table 12 of the type commonly found in arolling mill, and an elevator-type carrier 14.

The roller table 12 includes a plurality of table rollers 16, each ofwhich is suitably driven by any known means, such as for example thebelt 118 and motor 20 shown in FIG. 2. The roller table 12 is flanked oneither side by a pair of sliding notches 22a and 22b, each being definedrespectively by a plurality of longitudinally aligned castings 24a and24b.

The table rollers 116 are longitudinally spaced along the length of thetable 12, with a pair of apron plates 26a and 26b located between eachtable roller. The apron plates are each provided respectively withmating edges 28a and 28b extending diagonally across the width of theroller table 12.

As can be best seen by a combined reference to FIG. 2A and a broken awayportion of FIG. ll, each apron plate 26a is provided with a pair ofaxially aligned laterally extending stub shafts 30 which are journalledin suitably located bearings carried by the castings 24a and 24b. Apronplate 260 further includes a depending arm 32a which is pivotallyconnected as at 34a to one end of a link 36a, the other end of the linkbeing pivotally connected as at 38a to an upstanding bracket 40aattached to a slide bar 42a. The other apron plate 26b is similarlyprovided with stub shafts 30 and a depending arm 32b which is in turnconnected via a link 36b and bracket 40b to another slide bar 42b. Whenslide bar 42a is pulled to the right as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2A, theapron plates 26a are pivoted to raised positions shown in dotted at 26ain FIGS. 2 and 2A. This has the effect of laterally transferring anelement running along roller table 112 into sliding notch 22a. By thesame token movement of slide bar 42b in the opposite direction willcause the apron plates 26b to be pivotally raised with the result thatan element running along table 12 will be laterally transferred into theopposite sliding notch 22b. In actual practice, notch 22b may beemployed to receive scrap elements, while notch 22 operates as theprimary receiver for acceptable elements.

The area between the roller table 12 and the elevator carrier 14 willhereinafter be referred to as the receiving station. A plurality of skidassemblies generally indicated at Ml are spaced along the receivingstation, each skid assembly extending laterally with respect to thelength of the receiving station. As can best be seen by additionalreference to FIGS. 3-6, each skid assembly 44 includes an elementsupport member 46 which is made up of a rear section 46a and a frontsection which can be either a long" or a short," the long beingindicated 46b and the short at 46b. The reason for employing frontsections having two different lengths will be explained later in thespecification. The rear section 46a is attached by machine screwsindicated typically at 4% to the rear horizontal plate 50 of anunderlying carriage assembly generally indicated at 52. Carriageassembly 52 has a generally I-shaped cross-section; with laterallyextending wheels 54l which run along parallel track members 56a and 56b,the latter being attached to and supported by an underlying stationaryhousing 5%.

The carriage assembly 52 further includes a central vertical plate tillto which is welded the previously mentioned rear horizontal plate 50 andanother forward horizontal plate 62 (see FIG. 5). The front edge ofplate 50 is spaced from the rear edge of plate 62,

thereby exposing the upper edge of plate 60. The front section (either46b and 46b) of the element support member 46 is secured by machinescrews 64 to an underlying weldment 66 which is made up of a horizontaltop plate 66a and a pair of depending spaced parallel flanges 66b and660 which straddle the exposed upper edge of the vertical plate 60 onthe carriage assembly. Thus, when the weldment 66 is operativelypositioned as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, its upper plate 66a is inhorizontal alignment with and located between plates 50 and 62. The rearends of flanges 66b and 66c extend beyond the rear edge of plate 66a,and each is suitably shaped to provide a locking nose 68 whichcooperates with the rear edge 70 of the front section 46b or 46b toengage the front edge of plate 50, thus locating and holding the frontsection in place on the carriage assembly 52. The advantages to bederived from employing this means of supporting and locating the frontsection 46b or 46b of the element support member 46 will be discussedpresently when the operation of the apparatus is described.

Carriage assembly 52 is additionally provided along its underside with agear rack 72 which is in meshed relationship with a pinion gear 74carried by drive shaft 76 extending longitudinally along the length ofthe element receiving station. Thus it will be seen that as viewed inFIGS. 2 and 3, counterclockwise rotation of shaft 76 will cause thecarriage assembly 52 and the element support member 46 carried thereonto be extended towards the left to a maximum extent indicated in dottedat 46 in FIG. 3. By the same token, clockwise rotation of shaft 76 willproduce a reverse operation, causing the element supporting member 46 tobe retracted to the position shown in solid lines.

As can best be seen by combined reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a pluralityof alignment rollers 78 are spaced at suitable intervals along theelement receiving station. Each alignment roller is suitably journalledfor rotation about an axis extending transverse of the length of theelement receiving station and generally parallel to the skid assemblies44. The alignment rollers are each suitably driven by any known means,such as for example a motor 80 connected to the roll shaft by means of acoupling 82. Each alignment roller is provided with a cylindricalsection 78a and a somewhat truncated conical section 78b, the formerprotruding upwardly above a plane containing the upper edges of theelement support members 46.

Picker devices generally indicated at 84 are located at suitableintervals along the element receiving station. The construction andoperation of the picker devices 84 is described and claimed in U. S.Patent application Ser. No. 168,276 filed on Aug. 2, 1971 and assignedto the same assignee as the present invention. The picker devices 84operate to shift individual elongated elements from the sliding notch22a onto the alignment rollers 78. Each picker device includes a curvedarm 86 which is pivotally connected generally at its midsection as at 88to an arm 100 extending radially from yoke 102 which in turn surroundsan eccentric 104. The eccentric is journalled for rotation in the yokeand is itself keyed to a drive shaft 106 extending longitudinally alongthe element receiving station. Yoke 102 is also pivotally connected atanother location as at 108 to one end of a link 110, and the other endof the link 110 is pivotally connected as at 112 to a stationary bracket114. One end of the picker arm 86 forms an element engaging notch 116,and the other end of the arm is pivotally connected as at 118 to a shortarm 120 extending laterally from a collar 122. The collar is rotatablymounted on and supported by the drive shaft 76 which powers the skidassemblies 44.

Rotation of drive shaft 106 in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2causes the picker arms to travel in a somewhat eliptical path indicatedschematically in FIG. 2 at 124. Transverse notches 126 (see FIG. 1) inthe castings 24a permit the picker arms 86 to traverse the sliding notch220. An element at rest in sliding notch 22a is thus carried by thepicker arms along path 124 and deposited on the cylindrical sections 780of the alignment rollers 78, which are continually rotating to push eachelement to the left as viewed in FIG. 1. Each element is thus movedforward until its front end contacts a remote stop (not shown). Whilethis is occurring the next subsequent cycle of the picker arms carriesanother element from sliding notch 22a while simultaneously pushing anelement previously deposited on the alignment rollers 78 laterally tothe left as viewed in FIG. 2. This causes the preceding element to slidedown the truncated conical sections 78b of the alignment rollers ontothe upper edges of the element support members 46. Guide members 128 arepositioned on either side of the element support members 46 to insurethat elongated elements being aligned on rollers 78 do not shiftlaterally to the right as viewed in FIG. 2, thus creating a danger ofbecoming wedged under the castings 24a when the picker arms 86 moveupwardly to retrieve another element from sliding notch 22a.

The apparatus further includes stop means generally indicated at locatedat spaced intervals along the element receiving station. As is bestshown in FIG. 2, each stop means 140 includes a stop member 142 whichhas two generally upwardly inclined arms terminating at their upper endsin front and rear finger stops 144a and 144b. The stop member 142 ispivotally connected at two points as at 146a and 146b to verticallyspaced pairs of links 148a and 148b, the latter in turn being pivotallyconnected as at 1500 and 15% respectively to rigid side plates 152carried on an underlying fixed bracket or housing 154. Each stop member142 is additionally pivotally connected as at 156 to the upper end of apush rod 158, the bottom of which is pivotally connected as at 160 to acrank arm 162 keyed to a shaft 164. The shaft 164 underlies and extendsalong the length of the element receiving station. One of the crank arms162 is connected as at 159 to the piston rod 1610 of a double actingcylinder 161b, the latter being pivotally mounted as at 163 to a fixedbracket 163'. Extension and retraction of piston rod 161a causes theshaft 164 to rotate in either the clockwise or counterclockwisedirection. The upper end of piston rod 161a is adjustable axially and isarranged to contact an upper horizontal plate 163a, thereby providing ameans of limiting the extent to which the rod can be extended. Rotationof shaft 164 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise directionproduces vertical movement of push rod 158 and corresponding verticaladjustment to the stop member 142. The links 148a and 148b cooperatewith the side plates 152 in maintaining each stop member 142 in agenerally horizontally disposed attitude, regardless of the verticaladjustments made thereto.

The elevator carrier 14 includes a plurality of horizontally disposedelevator platforms 166 each of which comprises the top surface of anelevator assembly generally indicated at 168 (see FIG. 2). The elevatorassembly is mounted for vertical movement on an elevator housing 170through which extends a rotatable elevator drive shaft 172. The driveshaft has mounted thereon a plurality of pinion gears 174 which are inmeshed relationship with a gear rack 176 on the elevator assembly 168.Thus it will be seen that as viewed in FIG. 2, clockwise rotation ofdrive shaft 172 will produce an upward movement of the elevatorassemblies 168 while counterclockwise rotation of shaft 172 will resultin the elevator assemblies being lowered.

A plurality of vertically extending fence members 178 are mounted on theelevator housing 170 adjacent to one side of the vertical path of travelof the elevator assemblies 168. Other fence members 180 are disposedoppositely to fence members 178 on the other side of the vertical pathof elevator travel. Fence members 180 are adjustably mounted by means oflinks 182 and piston and cylinder assemblies 184 on a walk-way 186extending the length of the apparatus. The fence members 178 and 180provide lateral support for the tiers of elements to be deposited on theelevator platforms 166.

A transfer car 194 having a plurality of stock receiving cradles islocated beneath the walk-way 186. The transfer car is mounted on tracks196 for movement in a lateral direction towards and away from theapparatus. The transfer car is provided with horizontal support beds 198and upstanding laterally spaced supports 280 and 202. When the elevatorassemblies 168 are lowered to their lowermost position with the elevatorplatforms below the level of the support beds 198 on the transfer car194, as indicated ih dotted at 166 in FIG. 2, a stack of tiered elementsis thus transferred from the elevator platforms 166 onto the transfercar 1194 for lateral removal away from the apparatus.

The operation of the apparatus will now be described with particularreference to the schematic illustrations contained in FIGS. 7A to 7!.Beginning with FIG. 7A, the apparatus is shown at one stage in itsoperation with a given element, herein shown as an angle E running alongthe roller table 12 on the driven rollers 16. The element supportmembers 46 are fully retracted, the stop members 142 are lowered to theinoperative position and the picker arms 86 are at their lowermost pointof travel. The elevator platforms 166 are shown with one tier ofelements deposited thereon. The elevators are at a slightly loweredposition beneath the level L of the element support members 46, and inthis position are ready to accept the next tier.

FIG. 7B depicts the transfer of the moving element E from the rollertable 12 into the sliding notch 22a. This is accomplished by pullingslide bar 42a to raise the apron plates 26a to their operative positionsas shown. When this occurs, an element moving along roller table 12 iscontacted by the inclined forward edges 28a of the apron plates, thelatter acting collectively as a ramp which causes the product to slidelaterally in the direction indicated into notch 22a.

After being deposited in notch 22a, element E will slide to rest. Whilethis is occurring, the apron plates 26a will be returned to theirhorizontal positions and the next element E will begin running ontotable 12. After element E has come to rest in notch 22a, the

picker arms 86 are operated along the path depicted schematically inFIG. 7C at 124, thus traversing notches 126 in the castings 24b andtransferring element E onto the slowly rotating alignment rollers 78.Once on the alignment rollers 78, the element E is advanced towards aremote stop which serves as a means of aligning the front ends of theelements being handled by the apparatus. While this is occurring, theapron plates 26a are again operated in the manner previously describedto transfer element E into the sliding notch 22a.

FIG. 7D depicts a subsequent stage showing the picker arms 86 in theprocess of clearing element E from sliding notch 22a. As the picker armspass through the latter part of their strokes, they push element Elaterally off the alignment rollers 78 and onto the laterally disposedelement support members 46. Once this has been accomplished, the elementsupport members are advanced a short distance as indicated in dotted inFIG. 8D to make room for the next subsequent element.

FIG. 7B shows a subsequent stage in the operation of the apparatus afterfour elongated elements E E, have been deposited on the element supportmembers 46, the latter having been extended each time an element hasbeen shifted thereon from the alignment rollers. It will be observedthat the four elements E E, are now located over the stop members 142.At this stage, the stop members are elevated to their operativepositions as shown by the solid lines in FIG. 7E, thus positioning thefront stop 144a on one side of the elements and the rear stops 1441) onthe other side. Other elements E E and E are also being processed by theapparatus as shown in the drawings.

Referring next to FIG. 7F, it will be seen that the next step involves aretraction of the element support members 46 back to their initialpositions as shown in FIG. 7A. Retraction of members 46 causes theelements E E to be packed together against the rear stops 14%. Once thishas been accomplished, the stop members 142 are lowered back to theirinoperative positions.

FIG. 7G shows another subsequent stage in the operation of the apparatusat which the element support members 46 have again been extended toreceive elements E E the latter having been deposited on the members 46in the same manner as that described above in relation to members E E Atthis stage, the members E E are located above the stop members 142. Thestop members are then raised to their operative positions, and theelement support members 46 are again retracted.

As is best shown by combined reference to FIGS. 7H and 7], retraction ofthe element support members 46 from their extended positions as shown inFIG. 7G accomplishes two objectives: first, the elongated elements E E,are again laterally packed by virtue of the restraining action providedby rear stops 144b. Secondly, the elements E E, are individuallystripped off of the ends of the element support members onto thepreceding tier on the elevator carriers 168. In FIGS. 7H and 7I, elementE, is shown deposited on and nested over an underlying element on theelevator carriers 168. The middle portion of element E is also strippedoff of the shorter front sections 46b of the elements support membersand thus has been allowed to sag downwardly into a nested relationshipon the underlying element. However, the end sections of the element Eremain supported on the long sections 46b of the element supportmembers. Continued retraction of the element support members 46eventually results in the end portions of the element E being strippedfrom the long front sections 46, while the middle portion of the nextelement E is next stripped off of the short front sections 46b.

In other words, by employing element support members 56 having frontsections 46b and 46b of different lengths, with the longer sectionsunderlying the end portions of the elements and the shorter sectionsunderlying the middle portions of the elements, the middle portions areallowed to sag downwardly before the end portions are released, and thisin turn avoids any possibility of the elements twisting or tipping asthey are stripped off of the element support members 46. Thus, each tierof elements deposited on the elevator carriers 168 assumes a properlyaligned relationship, thereby producing a stack of elements having auniforn cross-section and arrangement. This operation might be modifiedslightly by reversing the location of the front sections 46b and 46b sothat the longer sections underlie the middle of the elements beinghandled, and the shorter sections underlie the ends of the elements. Inthis way, the ends of the elements would droop down beofre the middles,with essentially the same result, namely, an avoidance of twisting ortipping.

It will now be evidence to those skilled in the art that a number ofimportant advantages can be derived from employing an apparatus asdescribed above. Among these advantages is the ability to maintain atier of elongated elements in horizontal and lateral alignment duringthe transfer thereof from a receiving station to a position overlying alaterally adjacent carrier. Another advantage lies in the ability toindividually strip elements off of the element support members onto theelevator carriers in a manner which avoids twisting or tipping of theelements. Additionally, and with particular reference to FIG. 3, itshould be noted that in the event that the elevator carriers 168 areinadvertently raised to a level such that their upper support surfaces,or the product stacked thereon, contact the undersides of the elementsupport members, the forward sections of the element support memberswill pivotally disengage themselves from the rear sections 46a and pivotupwardly as shown by the dotted lines in FIG. 3, thus avoiding damage tothe element support members and their underlying tracks and operatingmechanisms. The removable nature of the front sections 46b and 46bfurther permits their repositioning in a rapid and efficient manner toaccommodate different length elements.

It is our intention to cover all changes and modifications of theembodiment herein shown for purposes of disclosure which do not departfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claimsappended hereto.

We claim:

I. Apparatus for transferring elongated elements from a receivingstation to an adjacent carrier located on one side of the receivingstation, said apparatus comprising: a plurality of support membersspaced along and extending laterally relative to the length of thereceiving station at a level above that of the carrier, each of saidsupport members having a front section and a rear section, said rearsection being secured to an underlying carriage assembly mounted formovement along track means, said front section being removably attachedto said carriage assembly by means which permits the front section topivot upwardly relative to said rear section and said carriage assemblyin the event that the front section is subjected to an upward force;operating means associated with said carriage assemblies for advancingand retracting said support members between a receiving position at thereceiving station and a delivery position overlying the carrier; stopmeans at the receiving station; elevational means for moving said stopmeans between a raised operative position protruding between saidsupport members above said level and a lowered inoperative positionbeneath said level, whereupon after elongated elements have beenlaterally arranged in a tier on said support members at the receivingposition, said support members are advanced by said operating means tothe delivery position, thus placing the elements over the carrier, saidstop means are raised by said elevational means to the operativeposition and said support members are then retracted by said operatingmeans to the receiving position, thereby causing the elongated elementsto be stripped by said operatively positioned stop means off of saidsupport members and onto the carrier.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said support members arenon-uniform in length, with the longest support members being locatedunder the end sections of the elongated elements deposited thereon, andwith the shortest support members being located under the middlesections of the elongated elements, whereupon when the support membersare withdrawn from the delivery position to the receiving position withthe stop means raised to the operative position, the middle section ofeach elongated element will be stripped from the shortest of the supportmembers before the end sections of the same element are stripped fromthe longest of the support members.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said operating meansincludes a gear rack on each of said carriage assemblies, each of saidgear racks being in meshed relationship with a pinion gear mounted on acommon drive shaft extending along the length of said receiving station.

4. Apparatus for transferring elongated elements from a receivingstation to an adjacent carrier located on one side of the receivingstation, said apparatus comprising: a plurality of support membersspaced along and extending laterally relative to the length of thereceiving station at a level above that of the carrier; operating meansfor advancing and retracting said support members between a receivingposition at the receiving station and a delivery position overlying thecarrier; a plurality of elongated stop members located at suitableintervals along said receiving station between selected pairs of saidsupport members, the said stop members extending laterally across thereceiving station in parallel relationship with said support members,each of said stop members having front and rear stops extendingvertically from the ends thereof; elevational means for moving said stopmembers between raised operative positions at which said stops protrudeupwardly above said level and between said support members and loweredinoperative positions beneath said level, whereupon after elongatedelements have been laterally arranged in a tier on said support membersat the receiving position, said support members are advanced by saidoperating means to the delivery position, thus placing at least some ofthe elements over the carrier, said stop members are raised by saidelevational means to the operative positions and said support membersare then retracted by said operating means to the receiving position,thereby causing elongated elements to be stripped by said front stopsoff of said support members and onto the carrier, while elongatedmembers located between said front and rear stops are packed together bythe retaining action of said rear stops.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein each of said stop membershas pivotally connected thereto pairs of link members, the said linkmembers in turn being pivotally connected to stationary support means,whereupon said link members and said stationary support means cooperatewith said stop member to maintain said stop members horizontallydisposed during adjustments thereof between said raised operativeposition and said lowered inoperative position.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said elevational means iscomprised of push rods, each being pivotally connected at one end to oneof said stop members and at the other end of one of a plurality ofcranks, the other ends of said cranks being keyed to a rotatable shaftextending longitudinally along said receiving station, said means forrotation said shaft in ei ther a clockwise or counterclockwisedirection.

7. Apparatus for transferring elongated elements from a receivingstation to an adjacent carrier located on one side of the receivingstation; said apparatus comprising: laterally extending support membersspaced along the length of the receiving station at a level slightlyabove that of the carrier, each said support members including a rearsection attached to a carriage assembly which is in turn movably mountedon stationary track means, and a front section removably connected tosaid carriage assembly by means which permit the front section to pivotupwardly relative to said carriage assembly and said rear section in theevent that the front section is subjected to an upward force, the frontsections of said support members being nonuniform in length with thelongest being positioned for location under the end sections ofelongated elements deposited thereon and the shortest being positionedfor location under the middle sections of the elongated elements; stopmeans at said receiving station; elevational means for adjusting saidstop means between a raised operative position protruding upwardlybetween said support members above said level and a lowered inoperativeposition beneath said level, whereupon after elongated elements havebeen laterally arranged in a tier on said support members at saidreceiving station, said support members are advanced to the deliveryposition, thus placing the elements over said carrier, said stop meansis raised to the operative position and said support members are thenretracted to the receiving position, thereby causing the elongatedelements to be stripped by said operatively positioned stop means off ofsaid support members and onto said carrier, the middle sections of theelongated elements being allowed to drop towards said carrier prior tothe end sections due to the aforementioned non-uniform lengths of thefront sections of said support members.

1. Apparatus for transferring elongated elements from a receivingstation to an adjacent carrier located on one side of the receivingstation, said apparatus comprising: a plurality of support membersspaced along and extending laterally relative to the length of thereceiving station at a level above that of the carrier, each of saidsupport members having a front section and a rear section, said rearsection being secured to an underlying carriage assembly mounted formovement along track means, said front section being removably attachedto said carriage assembly by means which permits the front section topivot upwardly relative to said rear section and said carriage assemblyin the event that the front section is subjected to an upward force;operating means associated with said carriage assemblies for advancingand retracting said support members between a receiving position at thereceiving station and a delivery position overlying the carrier; stopmeans at the receiving station; elevational means for moving said stopmeans between a raised operative position protruding between saidsupport members above said level and a lowered inoperative positionbeneath said level, whereupon after elongated elements have beenlaterally arranged in a tier on said support members at the receivingposition, said support members are advanced by said operating means tothe delivery position, thus placing the elements over the carrier, saidstop means are raised by said elevational means to the operativeposition and said support members are then retracted by said operatingmeans to the receiving position, thereby causing the elongated elementsto be stripped by said operatively positioned stop means off of saidsupport members and onto the carrier.
 2. The apparatus as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said support Members are non-uniform in length, with thelongest support members being located under the end sections of theelongated elements deposited thereon, and with the shortest supportmembers being located under the middle sections of the elongatedelements, whereupon when the support members are withdrawn from thedelivery position to the receiving position with the stop means raisedto the operative position, the middle section of each elongated elementwill be stripped from the shortest of the support members before the endsections of the same element are stripped from the longest of thesupport members.
 3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein saidoperating means includes a gear rack on each of said carriageassemblies, each of said gear racks being in meshed relationship with apinion gear mounted on a common drive shaft extending along the lengthof said receiving station.
 4. Apparatus for transferring elongatedelements from a receiving station to an adjacent carrier located on oneside of the receiving station, said apparatus comprising: a plurality ofsupport members spaced along and extending laterally relative to thelength of the receiving station at a level above that of the carrier;operating means for advancing and retracting said support membersbetween a receiving position at the receiving station and a deliveryposition overlying the carrier; a plurality of elongated stop memberslocated at suitable intervals along said receiving station betweenselected pairs of said support members, the said stop members extendinglaterally across the receiving station in parallel relationship withsaid support members, each of said stop members having front and rearstops extending vertically from the ends thereof; elevational means formoving said stop members between raised operative positions at whichsaid stops protrude upwardly above said level and between said supportmembers and lowered inoperative positions beneath said level, whereuponafter elongated elements have been laterally arranged in a tier on saidsupport members at the receiving position, said support members areadvanced by said operating means to the delivery position, thus placingat least some of the elements over the carrier, said stop members areraised by said elevational means to the operative positions and saidsupport members are then retracted by said operating means to thereceiving position, thereby causing elongated elements to be stripped bysaid front stops off of said support members and onto the carrier, whileelongated members located between said front and rear stops are packedtogether by the retaining action of said rear stops.
 5. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 4 wherein each of said stop members has pivotallyconnected thereto pairs of link members, the said link members in turnbeing pivotally connected to stationary support means, whereupon saidlink members and said stationary support means cooperate with said stopmember to maintain said stop members horizontally disposed duringadjustments thereof between said raised operative position and saidlowered inoperative position.
 6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5wherein said elevational means is comprised of push rods, each beingpivotally connected at one end to one of said stop members and at theother end of one of a plurality of cranks, the other ends of said cranksbeing keyed to a rotatable shaft extending longitudinally along saidreceiving station, said means for rotation said shaft in either aclockwise or counterclockwise direction.
 7. Apparatus for transferringelongated elements from a receiving station to an adjacent carrierlocated on one side of the receiving station; said apparatus comprising:laterally extending support members spaced along the length of thereceiving station at a level slightly above that of the carrier, eachsaid support members including a rear section attached to a carriageassembly which is in turn movably mounted on stationary track means, anda front section removably Connected to said carriage assembly by meanswhich permit the front section to pivot upwardly relative to saidcarriage assembly and said rear section in the event that the frontsection is subjected to an upward force, the front sections of saidsupport members being nonuniform in length with the longest beingpositioned for location under the end sections of elongated elementsdeposited thereon and the shortest being positioned for location underthe middle sections of the elongated elements; stop means at saidreceiving station; elevational means for adjusting said stop meansbetween a raised operative position protruding upwardly between saidsupport members above said level and a lowered inoperative positionbeneath said level, whereupon after elongated elements have beenlaterally arranged in a tier on said support members at said receivingstation, said support members are advanced to the delivery position,thus placing the elements over said carrier, said stop means is raisedto the operative position and said support members are then retracted tothe receiving position, thereby causing the elongated elements to bestripped by said operatively positioned stop means off of said supportmembers and onto said carrier, the middle sections of the elongatedelements being allowed to drop towards said carrier prior to the endsections due to the aforementioned non-uniform lengths of the frontsections of said support members.